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[Scobie]

Probably a silly question but one I’ve never sought an answer for, how does the size of a source file affect the capability / quality of a DLNA stream?

Assuming the bandwidth can accommodate a particular video encoding / format, does the size of the file itself make a difference?

Cheers

Scobie

[jmone]

Part of the DLNA system is that the Renderer (the bit that plays a file) lets the Server (MC) know what formats it supports.  MC will then either transfer the file as is, or if needed do an on the fly transcoding.  In either case, the file is then streamed to the DLNA Renderer and as long as the connection is faster that the playback rate you are all good.  The only time I've seen issues is bandwidth constraints is on WiFi or Mobile networks.  The key part would be the overall bitrate being sent vs the sustained bitrate of the connection.  The size of the file in itself makes no difference. 

Also - there can be issues if the transcoding part of the process is not fast enough to keep up.  This will be a combination of the type of the Source File, the type of the Target File for transcoding and the compute power you have.  For example, I can not stream out a 4K/60p UHD Blu-ray as MC is too slow to transcode in real time but all other files are fine for me.  Note: At present some of the transcoding is single core and I know it is on Hendrik's (long) list to look at one day.... but in general you should be fine.

[Scobie]

Makes perfect sense thanks Jmone.

[AndrewFG]

Part of the DLNA system is that the Renderer (the bit that plays a file) lets the Server (MC) know what formats it supports.  MC will then either transfer...

This part of the DLNA system is, still, sadly, not supported by MC. Most renderers do indeed advertise what media formats they support. But MC does not look at this information to decide what format it will deliver. (The decision on what format to deliver, in MC, is hard coded in Settings..)